802.11@Wireless Networks- the Definitive Guide
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802.11® Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide By Matthew Gast Publisher : O'Reilly Pub Date : April 2002 ISBN: 0-596-00183-5 Pages : 464 As a network administrator, architect, or security professional, you need to understand the capabilities, limitations, and risks associated with integrating wireless LAN technology into your current infrastructure. This practical guide provides all the information necessary to analyze and deploy wireless networks with confidence. It?s the only source that offers a full spectrum view of 802.11, from the minute details of the specification, to deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting. Copyright Preface Prometheus Untethered: The Possibilities of Wireless LANs Audience Overture for Book in Black and White, Opus 2 Conventions Used in This Book How to Contact Us Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction to Wireless Networks Section 1.1. Why Wireless? Section 1.2. A Network by Any Other Name... Chapter 2. Overview of 802.11 Networks Section 2.1. IEEE 802 Network Technology Family Tree Section 2.2. 802.11 Nomenclature and Design Section 2.3. 802.11 Network Operations Section 2.4. Mobility Support Chapter 3. The 802.11 MAC Section 3.1. Challenges for the MAC Section 3.2. MAC Access Modes and Timing Section 3.3. Contention-Based Access Using the DCF Section 3.4. Fragmentation and Reassembly Section 3.5. Frame Format Section 3.6. Encapsulation of Higher-Layer Protocols Within 802.11 Section 3.7. Contention-Based Data Service Chapter 4. 802.11 Framing in Detail Section 4.1. Data Frames Section 4.2. Control Frames Section 4.3. Management Frames Section 4.4. Frame Transmission and Association and Authentication States Chapter 5. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Section 5.1. Cryptographic Background to WEP Section 5.2. WEP Cryptographic Operations Section 5.3. Problems with WEP Section 5.4. Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter 6. Security, Take 2: 802.1x Section 6.1. The Extensible Authentication Protocol Section 6.2. 802.1x: Network Port Authentication Section 6.3. 802.1x on Wireless LANs Chapter 7. Management Operations Section 7.1. Management Architecture Section 7.2. Scanning Section 7.3. Authentication Section 7.4. Association Section 7.5. Power Conservation Section 7.6. Timer Synchronization Chapter 8. Contention-Free Service with the PCF Section 8.1. Contention-Free Access Using the PCF Section 8.2. Detailed PCF Framing Section 8.3. Power Management and the PCF Chapter 9. Physical Layer Overview Section 9.1. Physical-Layer Architecture Section 9.2. The Radio Link Section 9.3. RF and 802.11 Chapter 10. The ISM PHYs: FH, DS, and HR/DS Section 10.1. 802.11 FH PHY Section 10.2. 802.11 DS PHY Section 10.3. 802.11b: HR/DSSS PHY Chapter 11. 802.11a: 5-GHz OFDM PHY Section 11.1. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Section 11.2. OFDM as Applied by 802.11a Section 11.3. OFDM PLCP Section 11.4. OFDM PMD Section 11.5. Characteristics of the OFDM PHY Chapter 12. Using 802.11 on Windows Section 12.1. Nokia C110/C111 Section 12.2. Lucent ORiNOCO Chapter 13. Using 802.11 on Linux Section 13.1. A Few Words on 802.11 Hardware Section 13.2. PCMCIA Support on Linux Section 13.3. linux-wlan-ng for Intersil-Based Cards Section 13.4. Agere (Lucent) Orinoco Chapter 14. Using 802.11 Access Points Section 14.1. General Functions of an Access Point Section 14.2. ORiNOCO (Lucent) AP-1000 Access Point Section 14.3. Nokia A032 Access Point Chapter 15. 802.11 Network Deployment Section 15.1. The Topology Archetype Section 15.2. Project Planning Section 15.3. The Site Survey Section 15.4. Installation and the Final Rollout Chapter 16. 802.11 Network Analysis Section 16.1. Why Use a Network Analyzer? Section 16.2. 802.11 Network Analyzers Section 16.3. Commercial Network Analyzers Section 16.4. Ethereal Section 16.5. 802.11 Network Analysis Examples Section 16.6. AirSnort Chapter 17. 802.11 Performance Tuning Section 17.1. Tuning Radio Management Section 17.2. Tuning Power Management Section 17.3. Timing Operations Section 17.4. Physical Operations Section 17.5. Summary of Tunable Parameters Chapter 18. The Future, at Least for 802.11 Section 18.1. Current Standards Work Section 18.2. The Longer Term Section 18.3. The End Appendix A. 802.11 MIB Section A.1. The Root of the Matter Section A.2. Station Management Section A.3. MAC Management Section A.4. Physical-Layer Management Appendix B. 802.11 on the Macintosh Section B.1. The AirPort Card Section B.2. The AirPort Base Station Section B.3. Links to More Information Glossary A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T W Colophon Index Preface People move. Networks don't. More than anything else, these two statements can explain the explosion of wireless LAN hardware. In just a few years, the projected revenues from wireless LAN products will be in the billions of dollars. The price of wireless LAN gear has plummeted and continues to fall dramatically. Wireless LANs are now a fixture on the networking landscape, which means you need to learn to deal with them. Prometheus Untethered: The Possibilities of Wireless LANs Wireless networks offer several advantages over fixed (or "wired") networks: Mobility Users move, but data is usually stored centrally. Enabling users to access data while they are in motion can lead to large productivity gains. Ease and speed of deployment Many areas are difficult to wire for traditional wired LANs. Older buildings are often a problem; running cable through the walls of an older stone building to which the blueprints have been lost can be a challenge. In many places, historic preservation laws make it difficult to carry out new LAN installations in older buildings. Even in modern facilities, contracting for cable installation can be expensive and time-consuming. Flexibility No cables means no recabling. Wireless networks allow users to quickly form amorphous, small group networks for a meeting, and wireless networking makes moving between cubicles and offices a snap. Expansion with wireless networks is easy because the network medium is already everywhere. There are no cables to pull, connect, or trip over. Flexibility is the big selling point for the "hot spot" market, composed mainly of hotels, airports, train stations, libraries, and cafes. Cost In some cases, costs can be reduced by using wireless technology. As an example, 802.11-equipment can be used to create a wireless bridge between two buildings. Setting up a wireless bridge requires some initial capital cost in terms of outdoor equipment, access points, and wireless interfaces. After the initial capital expenditure, however, an 802.11-based, line-of-sight network will have only a negligible recurring monthly operating cost. Over time, point-to-point wireless links are far cheaper than leasing capacity from the telephone company. Until the completion of the 802.11 standard in 1997, however, users wanting to take advantage of these attributes were forced to adopt single-vendor solutions with all of the risk that entailed. Once 802.11 started the ball rolling, speeds quickly increased from 2 Mbps to 11 Mbps to 54 Mbps. Standardized wireless interfaces and antennas have made it possible to build wireless networks. Several service providers have jumped at the idea, and enthusiastic bands of volunteers in most major cities have started to build public wireless networks based on 802.11. Audience This book is intended for readers who need to learn more about the technical aspects of wireless LANs, from operations to deployment to monitoring: • Network architects contemplating rolling out 802.11 equipment onto networks or building networks based on 802.11 • Network administrators responsible for building and maintaining 802.11 networks • Security professionals concerned about the exposure from deployment of 802.11 equipment and interested in measures to reduce the security headaches The book assumes that you have a solid background in computer networks. You should have a basic understanding of IEEE 802 networks (particularly Ethernet), the OSI reference model, and the TCP/IP protocols, in addition to any other protocols on your network. Overture for Book in Black and White, Opus 2 Part of the difficulty in writing a book on a technology that is evolving quickly is that you are never quite sure what to include. 2001 was a year of active development for 802.11, especially in the area of security. Several studies suggested that security concerns were delaying the widespread adoption of 802.11, so I made a particular effort to keep the security coverage in this book up-to-date. Undoubtedly, the benefits of that effort will quickly fade, but I certainly hope that I have described the basic components well enough to make this book useful no matter what final form the security-related standards take. This book has two main purposes: it is meant to teach the reader about the 802.11 standard itself, and it offers practical advice on building wireless LANs with 802.11 equipment. These two purposes are meant to be independent of each other so you can easily find what interests you. To help you decide what to read first and to give you a better idea of the layout, the following are brief summaries of all the chapters. Chapter 1 lists ways in which wireless networks are different from traditional wired networks and discusses the challenges faced when adapting to fuzzy boundaries and unreliable media. Wireless LANs are perhaps the most interesting illustration of Christian Huitema's assertion that the Internet has no center, just an ever-expanding edge.